Our first conference, the 2018 Authors Conference, on January 27, 2018, was a resounding success in so many ways, it’s hard to know where to start first. First are the thank yous.

Thank you to all the Writers in the Grove members and their families who gave up so much time, energy, feet, and backs to help us make this possible. It is amazing how much can be done with so many eager volunteers. We actually had the Center cleaned up and restored to normal in less than 45 minutes after the end of the event, which is saying plenty!

Thank you to the speakers who shared their powerful perspective on the publishing industry in workshops and open panel discussions. Chip MacGregor, Holly Lorincz, Kristin Thiel, Deborah Reed, MaryJane Nordgren, and Jessica Morrell helped many many find their footing in this new technological world of publishing and push their story ideas and characters even further. Paulann Petersen again swept away cobwebs and restraints to help writers tap into their muse to find the words to share their thoughts, dreams, and stories through the magic of her inspiration.

Thank you to the participants. Your ticket donation helped us raise about $3,000 for the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center to keep their ongoing projects and outreach programs vital, supporting our community. The feedback was amazing. Everyone was so appreciative to have such an exceptional program and group of speakers in Forest Grove. They soaked it up and are eager to get to work writing.

To the donors who gave so much to help us feed and keep our participants happy, we are so grateful.

Raeann Johnston and FGSCC

Bill Stafford

BJ’s Coffee

Chuck Pritchard and family

Diana Lubarsky

Diversity

Elmer’s

Fred Meyer, Cornelius

Godfather’s Pizza

Jan Spoelstra /Carolyn Bradley

Jennings-McCall

King’s Head

Lela Baskins

Lorelle Van Fossen

M.J. Nordgren

Maridon’s

Parks and Paula Adams

Prime Time

Safeway

Schmidlin Angus Farm

Susan Field

Urban Decanter

Walmart

Yellow Llama

To the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center, we are beyond grateful for your continued support and encouragement of Writers in the Grove, our activities, and now our special events. The work the staff and volunteers of the Center provide to the community continues to amaze. The senior and community services, affordable meals, Meals on Wheels, bread-baking services, outreach programs, and other social services makes the Center an invaluable resource for our community.

To Lorelle VanFossen for helping with the logistical arrangements of the event, we are very thankful. She kept everyone and everything on time, on track, and mischief managed throughout the entire process.

To Susan Field, our amazing promoter. The event was featured in newspapers, newsletters, posters, signs, and everywhere around Washington County, even in the local utility bill. The success of the sold out program is thanks to her incredible determination to spread the word in spite of life getting in the way. Thank you so much for everything you do for us.

To Diana Lubarsky, our cheerleader, we thank you. Thank you for helping us keep our heads together with your strong leadership qualities. You keep us smiling in spite of ourselves.

To MaryJane Nordgren, our fearless leader, we are eternally grateful. You had a vision for this group from the very beginning. Your determination to provide a safe and supportive environment for creative writers in Forest Grove, outlets for their work through public readings and collaborative published works, and educational opportunities for writers is a testimony to your faith as well as your legacy. You’ve changed this community, added value, and lifted us all up to be better, as people as well as writers. Thank you for believing and trusting us.

I know we’ve forgotten some people to thank. Know that you are not forgotten in our hearts. We could not have done this without you.

We have four optional special sessions available to attendees of our 2018 Authors Conference on January 27, 2018, in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Attendees may register for each of these special sessions upon arrival the morning of Saturday, January 27.

Private individual consultation sessions require you bring a number of printed pages (2 copies minimum) for the consultant to read and review. These should be printed on one-sided white paper in black 12pt Times Roman or equivalent font, double spaced, with a 1 inch margin all around.

Here is the schedule and details you may need to know for the upcoming 2018 Authors Conference by Writers in the Grove in support of community writers and authors and the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center on January 27, 2018.

We are so pleased to have such excellent speakers representing the publishing industry and the Pacific Northwest, especially Oregon. This is a rare opportunity to find them all in one place sharing their wisdom with our writing community.

Lunch is included. It is being donated by Forest Grove merchants and restaurants and we’ve done our best to meet most dietary restrictions and needs. If you have special dietary restrictions, please feel free to bring your own food.

Registration for the special paid sessions are additional and paid at the door. Please bring cash, credit card, or check payable to FGSCC to pay for the session. You will also need to bring printed copies of your written pages for private critique sessions, including a copy for yourself to make your notes.

8:30

Doors Open

9:15

Welcome

9:30

Workshops:
Querying and Finding an Agent with Chip MacGregor
Pitfalls You Can Avoid with Kristin Thiel
Practicing Opening Lines: Hooks with MJ Nordgren

10:40

Break

10:50

Workshops:
Character Arc with Jessica Morrell
Preparing a Manuscript with Holly Lorincz
Special Session ($): Practice Pitching with Kristin Thiel

Noon

Lunch: Lunch has been donated by various Forest Grove area merchants, and should meet most dietary restrictions.
Keynote: Deborah Reed

1:30

Workshops:
Poetry Workshop with Paulann Petersen
Writing a Proposal with Chip MacGregor
Special Session ($): Memoir or Fiction with Jessica Morrell
Special Session ($): Story Ideas and Plot Points with Holly Lorincz

As a reminder, in addition to our top notch speakers on writing, editing, poetry, and publishing at the 2018 Authors Conference on January 27, 2018, in Forest Grove, Oregon, we are offering special and optional private and small group consultations with some of our faculty for an additional fee. Registration for these optional consultations will be the morning of the event.

The special sessions are:

15 minute professional consultations (Cost: $10):

Jessica Morrell on a single sample of a memoir or fiction piece.

Holly Lorincz to talk through a story idea, plot points, and non-fiction scope and sequence.

About Writers in the Grove 2018 Authors Conference

This is a fundraiser for the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center, a non-profit community center and the host of Writers in the Grove weekly meetings. The Center provides free and low cost meals through their dining services and Meals On Wheels outreach program, as well as a wide range of educational, recreational, wellness, and community events and educational opportunities.

Writers in the Grove is a free weekly workshop for those wishing to develop their creative writing skills. The group meets Mondays at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center on Mondays from 9-11am, and on the second Saturday of the month at the Forest Grove Public Library from 10:30-noon. Writers in the Grove supports the freedom of expression and creative writing spirit in Forest Grove, Oregon, and around the world.

As a full-time professional writer and editor for fourteen years, Kristin Thiel works with writers, publishers, and other businesses to improve their professional writing skills with a goal toward publishing.

She’s also an avid hiker, backpacker, and “yes-sayer” to Northwest fun and exploration.

About Writers in the Grove 2018 Authors Conference

This is a fundraiser for the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center, a non-profit community center and the host of Writers in the Grove weekly meetings. The Center provides free and low cost meals through their dining services and Meals On Wheels outreach program, as well as a wide range of educational, recreational, wellness, and community events and educational opportunities.

Writers in the Grove is a free weekly workshop for those wishing to develop their creative writing skills. The group meets Mondays at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center on Mondays from 9-11am, and on the second Saturday of the month at the Forest Grove Public Library from 10:30-noon. Writers in the Grove supports the freedom of expression and creative writing spirit in Forest Grove, Oregon, and around the world.

In addition to our top notch speakers on writing, editing, poetry, and publishing at the 2018 Authors Conference on January 27, 2018, in Forest Grove, Oregon, you will have the opportunity to work directly with the faculty privately or in small groups for an additional fee. Registration for these optional consultations will be the morning of the event.

15 minute professional consultations:

Jessica Morrell on a single sample of a memoir or fiction piece.

Holly Lorincz to talk through a story idea, plot points, and non-fiction scope and sequence.

Cost: $10 paid in advance.

Small group session for practicing pitching (45 min) with Kristin Thiel. Cost: $5 paid in advance.

About Writers in the Grove 2018 Authors Conference

This is a fundraiser for the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center, a non-profit community center and the host of Writers in the Grove weekly meetings. The Center provides free and low cost meals through their dining services and Meals On Wheels outreach program, as well as a wide range of educational, recreational, wellness, and community events and educational opportunities.

Writers in the Grove is a free weekly workshop for those wishing to develop their creative writing skills. The group meets Mondays at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center on Mondays from 9-11am, and on the second Saturday of the month at the Forest Grove Public Library from 10:30-noon. Writers in the Grove supports the freedom of expression and creative writing spirit in Forest Grove, Oregon, and around the world.

The annual Science Fiction/Fantasy Story Weekend with Wordcrafters writing group in Eugene, Oregon, is April 13-15 in the mountains along a river in the Oregon Cascades. The weekend is limited to 15 participants and you will be staying in lovely 3-bedroom cabins with others members of the team. There is time for gathering and solitude for writing. The group is lead by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, author of adult and YA novels and more than 250 science fiction and fantasy stories.

Disclosure: I attended this even a couple years ago and had a wonderful time. I would be going again if it didn’t conflict with another activity. I highly recommend it. Nina takes time to spend with each person once or several times throughout the weekend to hep walk you through your writing challenges, plot, the “science,” and offer any help you need with your writing. Other frequent attendees are also well-published and experienced to help you through your writing process, but don’t let that intimidate you. There are writers at all levels of experience attending, all there dedicated to the writing process.

The keynote speaker at the 2018 Authors Conference on January 27, 2018, in Forest Grove, Oregon, will be Deborah Reed, author of the novels The Days When Birds Come Back, Olivay, Things We Set on Fire, Carry Yourself Back to Me, A Small Fortune, and its sequel, Fortune’s Deadly Descent.

Deborah is frequently featured in Poets & Writers, and holds a Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing (fiction) from Pacific University. She is also the co-director of the Black Forest Writing Seminars at the University of Freiburg in Germany. She lives in Manzanita, Oregon.

About Writers in the Grove 2018 Authors Conference

This is a fundraiser for the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center, a non-profit community center and the host of Writers in the Grove weekly meetings. The Center provides free and low cost meals through their dining services and Meals On Wheels outreach program, as well as a wide range of educational, recreational, wellness, and community events and educational opportunities.

Writers in the Grove is a free weekly workshop for those wishing to develop their creative writing skills. The group meets Mondays at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center on Mondays from 9-11am, and on the second Saturday of the month at the Forest Grove Public Library from 10:30-noon. Writers in the Grove supports the freedom of expression and creative writing spirit in Forest Grove, Oregon, and around the world.